It may concern



L. B. HUIT. SHAW GUTTER.

N0. 75,269; Patented Marlo, 1868,

w www geiten L.' s. noir, or Gener.A FALLS, IOWA.

1 Lettere .Patent No. 75,269, dieli March 10, 1868'.

HPROVEHET IN STRAW-GUTTEBS.

TOALL WHOMIT MAY -CONCERlN-z Be it known that I, L. '13. Hom', ofCedar Felle, in the county of Black Hawk, and State of Iowa, here in-ventedcertain new and vuseful Im-provements'in Straw-Cutters; and I do hereby declaro that the following is a. full, clear, und exact description of the sanne, reference 'being' hs'dto .the accompanying drawings, making n portion of this specication, in which-- Figure is n'planv view of e straw-cutter constructed according to my invention.

Figure 2is a veriticnl'trensverse section of lthe as me, taken in the lin'e z mof iig. 1.

Figurei is a. transverse section of one portion 'of the same, teken horizontally.

Figure 4 is a'detached view'of one of the feed-rollers of the apparatus.

Figure 5 is a detached view oi" one of the knifebesring arms-of the balance-wheel of the apparatus.

Figure 6 is o transverse section of the saine, teken in the line se of iig. 5.

Similar letters of vreference indicate corresponding parts' in'sll theliggnres.

This invention relates to thstcloss of straw-cutters in which the' cutting-knives or blades ore arranged upon the radial erms of a suitable bnloncewheel; end it. eonsistsvinv the ombinationnf e. balance-wheel, provided withy mich radial knife-carryingerms, with two bevel-genre, n pair of feed-rollers, and a crank, in such menner that therknives will be operntmlb`J the motion given to 'the feerlrollsby the crank. nndwhereby e. very strong, cheap1 i and eioient straw-cutter is secured. v

` The invention lfurther consists in so arranging those arms 'of the balance-Wheel intermediatewith the knife` carrying arms thereo'i, with reference to the said knife-cerrying srins and the feed-rollers of the apparatus, that th`e straw, ssit is `fed forward by the rollers, mey'not come in contsetvwith or'bestr'uck by the aforesaid inter" mediate armswhich. would seriously impair the eicient working1 of the npperetnsi e The invention further consists in certain novel means whereby the apparatus may/be ndiusted to cut the str'nw into greater or less lengths, und whereby the rapid and complete disoherg'e jof the cut straw frdm the cuttingdevices is secured.

To enable others to understand the'construction and operation ci' my invention, I will proceed to. describe it with referenceto the drawings.

AJepr'esents the cutter-betrof 'the apparatus, supported upon suitable legs, a, and haring titted upon or eronndits forward or smaller end ain irondcasting, b, which.` not only .serves to strengthen the said end of such cvxttcr-box, but which may be provided with sockets4 fon the reception of the foremost of the legs @and is fnrthermore furnished with slatersl extension, c, in which is formed n be'si'ing for e short shaft, c?, to the forward end o't which is'attached e. transverse balance-wheel, B, one side or lateral portion of which plays past .thefront'end of the cutter-box as indicated more fully in figs. 1 end 2.

To ther-ear end of the short shaft `inst in entionedA is securedn. bevel-gear, e, into which gearsr meshes c. similar bevelgen'rf, fitted hpon one end of the Alowerznost transverse feed oller, C, which works in enitsble bearings provided in the cutter-box, the seid feed-roller C having its upper side Asomewhat obove the bottom of the cutter-box,-nnd provided et that lend opposite'tlxge geen f-with c. crank, g, by which the requisite rotary motion is communicated thereto. l V

Theotber feed-roller is shown st D, ond is situated immediately over tbe roller C, parallel therewith. end with the ends of'its shaft fitted into' sliding bearings m, pressed downward byspfings n, which allow the said slinft D to yield, in an upward direction, to e degree proportioned to the quantita;f or thickness of straw fed between thetwo roller.. I Y Th-balance-wheel B isrned with, preferecly, four curved nadinl arms, .r rx, upon theinner sides of' the two opposite ones', marked r, of which are firmly4 secured knives o'r cutters, E, of afcorrespondin'gly curved foren the said knives playing closely pnst the front edge of the bot-tom of the cutter-box, the said front edge being furnished with a plint-e, b', designed to form n. xed shceredge, on which they straw rests while being eut oi or severed by the knives E of the balance-wheel. i I

In using the appnratus, tbe crank g isturned in the requisite direction, and the straw or hay, being placed in the cutter-bon A, is `tedorwnrd between the feed-rollers C D, and, as it projects beyond the front edgeoil the bottom of the aforesaid box, is cut ni by the -knivos E, on the nrrnsr of t-he Abalance-wheel B, es such knives m'ove past the said edge, ns herenbefore explained.

`Innsninch as the feed or forward movement of the straw is continuous, the arms rx, intermediate between the knifcnrrying arms r, would strike the forwnrdly-projecting portion of the straw, if they 4were--errur'iged-in line with snid knife-carrying orms, nridwould thusl materially interfere with the efficient operdtion ofthe apparatus, and, to nvoid this objection, the aforesaid intermediate arms are pinned further forward, oi-,in other words, nearer the frontend of the hub c nd rim d. oi' the balance-wheel than the knife-carrying arms r, so

that they move past the front end-of the cutterbox,'nt such distance therefrom ns not te'stiilt thest-nw'pro.

jecting fromthe seid end.

Innsmuch as the llength ofthe feed produced by each rotation' of.l the crank 1; is proportioned to the cireumference of the feed-roller C, tozwhich the seid crank is'attdchod, it isdesigned te adjust ythe appnratus to'cut Athe straw to /greateror less lengths, as may be required, by' slipping or removing the roller C from its bearings, and substituting, in the place thereot,l one ofjal greater or lcsszsize, according as it is desiredto cut vthe straw in greater or loss lengths, the rolls C, of dieront size'sJ-being, as it were, interchangeable.-

It' those edges of the knive-carrying arms 1' adjacent to the knives E were nen-rly or quite -atmght ongles to the flnt surfaces-'of the scid knives,the snid edges ofthe rms wou'ldstrilce und catch tho straw, as it is cut o', as hereinbeforeexplained, and would, to some extent, carry the sume around with the rotation of the said ermsfthus clogging and interfering'with, to some degree, the proper notion ofthe cutting-devices. To prevent this result, the outer surfaces ofthe arms r are recessed-or mode sloping toward the cntti'ng-edges ofthe knives, ns shown in g. 5, and nlso indiented indig. 6, the arms r being recessed thomost deeply et their control parts; f', und thev peculiar slanting surfaces thus presented to the lengths of' cut straw enabling the snmc to glide from auch surfaces, thus securinglthe desired resnlt. .l

What I claim as my invention; ynud desire tol secu-re by Letters Ptcnt, is v l. The helnnccnrhcel B, n'hon provided with recessed and bevelled arms r r and curved knives E, ottnched thereto, in combination with the bevel-gears erf, the interchangeable feed-rollers C C D, and crunk g, ns ond for the purpose specified.

2. The within-described arrangement of the intermediate spokes, 1', of the balance-wheel, with reference to the knii`eonrr-yingspokes r-thereoi, and the interchangeable feed-rollers C 0, subst-nntinlly ns and for the purpose specified. i

3. The method, herein described` of graduating the fiend by the detachable or interchangeable -rolls C, of different sizes, arranged. to operate underneath the yielding roll D, and operated by the crank g.

L. B. Horr.`

Witnesses :l

A. LE CLERC, J. W. Coones. 

